


Family Man

by AweburnPhoenix



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Movie: The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008), Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:40:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22921948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AweburnPhoenix/pseuds/AweburnPhoenix
Summary: Scully gets some unexpected news during the events in 'I Want To Believe'.}» Audio version available on the Audio Fanfic Podcasthere
Relationships: Fox Mulder & Dana Scully, Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 4
Kudos: 58
Collections: 2020 Reader Appreciation Collection





	Family Man

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kyouryokusenshi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyouryokusenshi/gifts).



> Written for my 2020 Reader Appreciation Challenge. Prompt from Val: "IWTB where Scully finds out she's pregnant." Hope you like it, lady!
> 
> Endless love to Admiralty for her beta help <3

_I won't be coming home._

Her own words echoed in her mind and refused to leave. How could she have said that? How could he not try to convince her otherwise?

Scully knew how important his work, his quest, had been to Mulder back in the day. Thinking he was past that now, she had pushed him to take this case so he could be a free man again. The last thing she expected was for him to choose his work over her. 

Scully felt dizzy. Was this how they were going to end? 

"Hey, Dana. You okay?" Doctor Kelly entered the locker room and sat beside her. 

"Yes, I'm fine. Just feeling a little dizzy," she lied. Her heart was racing, she was nauseous… Her world was tumbling down. She had put all her effort into her work lately, and now it seemed it was the only thing she could expect for her future. 

"You don't look fine at all," Kelly insisted. "Have you checked yourself up lately?" Scully shook her head. "Let me run a blood test, just in case. Better safe than sorry, right?" 

Scully didn't have the strength to fight her. In a way, she was glad to have someone who took care of her for a change. Following Dr. Kelly to the testing room, Scully let the woman take a sample of her blood. 

She decided to take a cab to her apartment downtown. That place had been kept from the beginning for practical reasons —their place in Farrs Corner could not be listed in any records— and she stayed there only after long shifts to take a nap before the one-hour drive home. Scully had been thinking about staying away from Mulder while this case lasted, she couldn't watch him going back into the darkness, unable to pull him out. She loved him to no end, but she couldn't let him drag her down in his quest. Now, it seemed like this was going to be a permanent thing. Her trying to pull Mulder out of his isolation ended up taking a bad turn and hitting them in their weakest spot. She cried herself to sleep, hoping that tomorrow they could see things differently. 

* * *

"Dana, you're pregnant." 

Dr. Kelly interrupted Scully on her way to her office. Her words were the most inconvenient thing right now. How come her life always got this complicated? 

Those words had meant the world to her once. They meant everything now, too. But, as it happened the first time, they came at the most difficult moment. Back then, Mulder had just disappeared from the face of the Earth. Now, they had been living apart for a couple of days. 

The conversation with Christian's parents wanting to stop the treatment had been a low blow to her sensitive mind, and Doctor Kelly delivering the results from her blood test had been like a KO. If she didn't think it was more than impossible she'd say it actually made sense. Those symptoms in any other woman would have resulted in a quick diagnosis. She'd been feeling tired and cranky. But she had thought it was due to her long working hours. Scully had been at the hospital so much that she hadn't noticed the miss in her period.

The world was spinning around like crazy, she needed to sit down for a moment. Opening the door to her office, Scully rested on the desk. 

"You're absolutely certain?" she asked, needing confirmation. 

"Totally," the woman replied. "You don't look too well. Do you want me to call someone to pick you up? You shouldn't drive if you're feeling dizzy." 

"I'm fine, don't worry. I was told _that_ was not going to happen, ever. It's gonna take a minute to come through." 

"Let me know if you need anything," Kelly assured her on her way out. "Oh, your printer is out of paper." 

Scully hadn't noticed. She had so many things to deal with. Pulling a new stack of papers, the words coming out of the printer scared her to the bone. Transplant, Russia, dogs, fused at the neck... Something inside her told her that Mulder was in danger. She grabbed her keys and ran away in his search. 

* * *

Mulder wasn't home, he didn't pick his phone and Scully feared he had done something really stupid. Her mind went some years back and she started spinning. Was she fated to lose him every time she got pregnant? She had wanted a child so much, but not if it meant losing him. She did the only thing she could think of: she called for back up. 

* * *

"We will find him," Skinner reassured her again and again as he drove in the snowy night. "I fulfilled that promise once, and I'll do it again." 

Scully gave him a worried look. Yes, they had found him. Cold and stiff on a winter night. The snow in the windshield only made her fears worsen. 

"We'll get to him alive this time, okay?" Skinner must have sensed her worry. "This is nothing like back then."

Scully's hand went to rest unconsciously on her belly. If only he knew… It was so much like back then. 

"Wait, are you—?"

"Yes," she interrupted him, not wanting to hear the word. "But he doesn't know. Nobody does." 

"We'll find him. He's going to be okay. You are going to be okay." 

* * *

They found him drugged, with a mild concussion and a sprained wrist. Skinner took care of him while Scully saved the day inside the horror hut. She was glad to hand off the young girl to paramedics as soon as the ambulance arrived and went to check on Mulder as fast as she could. He was already loaded into a second ambulance, but refused to leave. 

"I won't leave without my wife!" she heard him mumble. 

"Mulder, I'm not your wife—."

"But I'm a free man now, we'll sign those papers as soon as I'm discharged and you'll be. I'm not leaving without you. Ever again," he kept speaking inarticulately. The Russian must have dosed him with something, he seemed so incoherent. "I should have known better than to ditch you, all hell breaks loose whenever I leave you behind. Please, please, forgive me! Come back home. I don't know what I'd do without you, Scully."

He was rambling. The paramedics must have given him some painkillers, but they weren't working, he was too excited. 

"It's okay, Mulder. Just rest now. We'll talk when you wake up at the hospital."

Scully's hand went again to her belly, she kept instinctively touching the being growing inside her as if trying to reassure the little bean that everything was going to be okay, reassuring herself at the same time. 

"Don't dismiss my words just because I had a blow to the head; not again. I mean every word. I shouldn't have said what I did at the hospital. I don't want to do this without you. I told you once that maybe I couldn't do this on my own, it seems I was completely right. I could have died in there."

He kept rambling on and on until, finally, he passed out tired and high on painkillers, sleeping fully. Scully wanted to spend the night by his side, but her former boss made her go home to rest, reassuring her that he would call if anything happened. 

* * *

* * *

Mulder woke to the sound of machines beeping and a familiar male voice speaking on the phone. 

"... thank you, sir. You won't regret it, sir," the man uttered before hanging up. 

"Hey, Skinman. You sounded grave back there. Hope I haven't fucked up my deal?" 

Mulder had done what they had asked of him. Solved the case as best as he could. He had crossed some lines —he couldn't help it, it was his _modus operandi—_ but he hoped that it would still get him his precious freedom back. Mulder desperately needed to get out of that middle-of-nowhere house. 

"Luckily for you, no, you didn't fuck it up. Although you were pretty close. Getting the SAC killed during the operation did not balance in your favor, but putting an end to a Russian organ-stealing mob seems to have covered for it. That there," he waved the phone before putting it back into his pocket, "was me managing to improve your deal by getting you a teaching position in Quantico."

Mulder was aghast. He hadn't taught at Quantico for decades. Back then he had been the golden boy, but he had fallen hard down the ladder. He eyed suspiciously at his former boss. 

"Why?"

"Something tells me you're going to need extra cash in the upcoming years," Skinner whispered before getting up when Scully showed at the door. "He's been sleeping like a baby," he reported to her, winking at her. "I'll leave you two alone. I hope to be updated about your status soon?" 

"Sure, sir."

"Just call me Walter. We're past formalities here, don't you think?"

"Thanks, Walter. I'll call you with any news." 

Scully sat down by Mulder's side and grabbed his hand, waiting for the bald man to leave the room. 

"What was all that about?" Mulder asked when the door clicked. He had the impression that he was missing something but, for the life of him, he couldn't imagine what. 

"I… I'm pregnant, Mulder." 

His jaw dropped. About the thousand things that were going through his mind, that was not one of them. Wasn't she infertile? Had she been experimented on again? It couldn't be. _They_ had left them in peace for ages, _They_ were no longer a threat. For the last years, Mulder had been checking on The Organisation and he was sure they weren't around anymore. 

"You don't seem too happy about it," Scully stated after a couple of minutes. 

Mulder managed to focus his mind when hearing her voice again. 

"I'm sorry, I was just… Of course, I'm thrilled!" he beamed, grabbing her hand with both of his and kissing her. "Scully, come here," he pulled her arm and moved on the bed to make some room for her by his side. Scully nestled under his arm. "I was completely serious yesterday, and this changes nothing. Only to reassure my decision. No more chasing monsters in the dark. I want to be here for you."

Mulder noticed she had her hand on her belly and placed his on top of hers. He couldn't wait to feel the baby kick in the months to come. 

"Oh, my," suddenly it all made sense. "Did you tell the Skinman? He just offered me a teaching position in Quantico." 

"I wouldn't have told him before you, but he figured it out. Mulder, I was so scared of losing you…" 

_Again_ , he could feel the unuttered last word. 

"This time it's going to be different. I'm here, I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to take that position. No more monsters or conspiracies. You're going to have your little family, your picket fence, your dog… Whatever you've dreamt of, I'll make it happen."

* * *

Mulder pulled his sedan off the road and parked it carelessly on the wayside. There were no other cars, he was really late. 

"Mr. Mulder—." 

"I know, I know. I'm terribly late. I got caught up at work. I'm so sorry, Miss Honey. Didn't my wife call? I asked her—." 

"That's what I was going to tell you. She came and picked the kids up herself." 

Mulder took a look at his phone. A missed call and a voicemail. He had rushed out from Quantico and hadn't checked his messages. 

"I see. Sorry to bother you. Will see you tomorrow," he said on his way out. 

"More like next week?" the woman yelled. "Today it's Saturday!" 

Of course it was. The cadets had been unusually happy, now he understood why. 

The thirty-minute drive seemed endless by himself. He always groaned at Marjorie being too talkative and not shutting her mouth and JW frowning for the whole drive, but today it was too quiet. Who would have guessed? 

As soon as he walked into their home, the two preschoolers jumped from the sofa and clung to his legs. 

"Daddy! We missed you today! Mom didn't let us listen to Elvis on the way home!" Marjorie whined. 

"I just don't have that CD in my car." Scully enunciated, emphasizing each syllable. She must have told their daughter that same thing a hundred times. "Could you explain that to her? She wouldn't listen," Scully approached them and kissed him on the lips. 

"Mommy just doesn't share our great taste in music, kiddo," Mulder ruffled her dark curls. 

The little girl smiled up at him and, releasing his right leg, ran back to the sofa to her toys. 

"Dinner's gonna be ready soon, you go wash your hands," Mulder anticipated Scully's warning, and Marjorie growled but made her way upstairs to the bathroom. 

JW kept hugging his leg. Mulder looked at Scully and mumbled, " _Is he alright?"_ Scully sighed and raised her shoulders, " _School fight?"_ The kid was always more comfortable talking to him than to his mother. 

"How was school?" Mulder casually enquired the boy and dragged him to the couch. He was shy and had been having trouble making friends. 

"Tommy called me _spooky_ and stole my ghost plush. He said he'd give it back when I start being normal. Maybe I should." 

"James Walter," Mulder uttered slowly, "I've told you again and again that being _normal_ is not something we aim for in this family. You gotta be yourself, be different, be special. And surely that way you'll end up with a special person as I did. I'll talk to Tommy's father, we'll get Spooky back. Now, go wash your hands."

The twins ran down the stairs a couple of minutes later, Marjorie leading the way —even though JW was slightly older, his sister had always been the strong one: Scully's female power, Mulder always said. The four of them ate dinner peacefully —Marjorie making faces when chewing on her veggies, the only trait she got from her father— and then sat down together to watch a movie. The kids picked Toy Story for the nth time. They were about an hour in when the kids fell asleep on their mother, who ended up following them to the Land of Nod. Mulder didn't want to wake them, so he silently got up and walked to their porch, sitting for a while on the two-seats swing, watching the stars. 

"The world didn't end," Scully pronounced, closing the screen door slowly so that it wouldn't creak and wake the kids. 

"What do you mean?" Mulder murmured, sliding to the side of the swing, leaving some space for her by his side. 

"December 22nd, 2012:" she explained, "the apocalypse, alien invasion, end of the world… does it ring a bell?" 

Mulder chuckled. Looking at his watch, he realized it was already Sunday, and December 23rd. He remembered a time when he had been obsessed by that date, but the day seemed to have actually come and gone without him even noticing.

"I guess becoming a family man really changed me." He placed his arm over Scully's shoulder, pulling her close and kissing her temple. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it, please, leave a comment.
> 
> If you've left me a comment before, you can ask for your Thank You Fic in this spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wPzh33-_8mcM_hFqi1qSqA4DRcI1VMx7SOZ-Jgxyo20 😊
> 
> }» Audio version available on the Audio Fanfic Podcast [here](https://soundcloud.com/audiofanficpod/family-man-by-aweburnphoenix)


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